At Home - Zukisa Ramasia
CEO of BARSA, Zuks Ramasia, opens her exquisite home to us, and takes us through the many layers of her life, exclusive décor style, and her love for entertaining
From Monday to Friday, the former acting CEO of South African Airways and recently appointed CEO of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (BARSA), Zukisa Ramasia (58), can be seen hard at work – translating aviation jargon to stakeholders and government, executing strategic plans, managing large-scale capital improvement projects, managing finances, and so on. Sometimes the mandate is employment equity in the industry. And with the estimated COVID-19 related loss of 40 billion rand for 2021 alone, it means Zukisa’s office has never been busier. But if you looked at her face alone for evidence of stress, you would draw a blank.
Come Friday evenings, however, Zukisa gets to kick off her heels and enjoy the house she has been refurbishing since 2006. “It’s an ongoing project, but I can truly say we are getting there. The bulk of the work has been done; it’s now a matter of putting final touches here and there.” The elements in question include garden features and décor. “There are still features from the original structure that need to be upgraded,” she tells me, as she leads me to her entertainment room. “I call it my sun room,
and we eat and work here in winter.” The warmth in the room envelopes us as we sit down for the interview. Even from the street view, you get a sense that this is a people’s house. The outdoor combination of friendly dusty pink, cream, and gold tones make for a very convivial feel as you enter the mansion in the beautiful suburb of Bedfordview. Affectionately known as Zuks, she has a genuine love for hosting, as everyone who knows her will attest. It’s quite ironic for someone who grew up with a home known as a “minicolony”, a label derived from the era when Eastern Cape was referred to as the Cape Colony. “Our house was like a halfway house for relatives who came from the former Transkei, seeking employment, medical attention, education, etc,” she recalls with a bright smile. “I later learnt that some were not even blood relatives, but they stayed with us while waiting for their pension pay-outs, baby deliveries and housing allocations. And it’s not even as if we were a small family. We
It’s an ongoing project, but I can truly say we are getting there. The bulk of the work has been done
were a total of nine people – seven children and my parents living under that roof.”
So while it’s difficult for other home owners to keep a sparkling castle and grandchildren happy, for Zukisa it’s an effortless process. “It’s a gradual balance. First you buy what your heart desires in furniture and pieces of décor, and then you go through the process of eliminating risky pieces for the safety of children. One day, you find yourself painting the house in people-friendly colours and textures,” she says. “Children’s comfort has always been at the centre of my décor, even house-location decisions.”
Even when she bought her previous house right on the apex of the Bedfordview cliff, it was the children who had asked. Ever the democratic mom, Zuks agreed, and they lived in the house for 15 years. When the need arose for the family to come to another side of Bedfordview, the children coerced the parents into applying the comforts of the old house here. “And then, boom! they moved out!” she laughs. “Now it’s an empty nest, which we bought for the convenience of being near our last-born child’s school.”
Zuks adds how education is a passion that runs in the family. “My mother instilled in us the importance of education, and rewarded handsomely those who excelled in it. I always try to carry that legacy. I am that parent who goes to school and engages with the teachers to keep abreast of my children’s school life.”
Hers is not the only family close to her heart. She is the cheerleader who influenced the family to continue a culture of socialising together so as to keep in touch and be up to speed with everyone’s progress, or lack thereof, and lend a helping hand where they can. “We call it Masakhane, because sometimes it’s better to explain yourself in person, grow compassion, and receive help.” Some of the members in this family are not even blood relatives, but people that Zukisa’s parents adopted along the way.
The palatial mansion has been
My mother instilled in us the importance of education, and rewarded handsomely those who excelled in it. I always try to carry that legacy. I am that parent who goes to school and engages with the teachers to keep abreast of my children’s school life
extended by a floor above, with a grand library added, plus a string of bedrooms – each with its own balcony. No wonder this house is everyone’s favourite venue for family meetings. The large sunny dining room has a children’s room right opposite it with its own television and couches. “They love it!”
The dining room can easily accommodate 50 people. Going upstairs by way of a majestic staircase, one is met by a dazzling, genuine Persian runner that leads to different bedrooms, and to a comfortable pyjama lounge that has calf -leather couches and soothing simplicity. The bedrooms are cosy retreats - all with their en-suite bathrooms and balconies. There is a beautifully created entertainment area where the family can enjoy a nightcap and captivating views before retiring to their bedrooms.
The most interesting feature after the library is an outdoor shower, which lends the feel of an oasis. “It was actually a bribe to my husband, who was at his wit’s end by the time we were done with the house,” she quips. “It was either that or permanent animosity towards my friend, Neo, who was adamant about the
expensive features the house needed.” Neo Tiro is a friend she met when they both worked in a flight crew planning office back in 2001. She handled the project because the couple could not take time out for the renovations. Her contributions towards the fixtures of this storybook house is remarkable. Zuki’s husband, former CEO of Bonitas and now director of Dimela Health, Dr Bobby Ramasia, thought they were substantial. “They wanted a veranda on such a big house, the staircase going upstairs was dysfunctional, and there were walls everywhere. It didn’t make sense to me that a house this size should have such glaring mistakes,” Tiro recalls.
It seems there was a perpetual villain in the project in the form of a draftsman. “Bless his soul, but he had his own vision and we had our own, and when we objected to some of his ideas, he would not be willing to accept our changes, to a point where we would have to demand them, sometimes costing the funder unnecessary expenditure,” says Tiro. With her being in the construction business, it meant the draftsman could not use laymen’s excuses. “In the end, it was an architectural student who got the brief and put the building to bed.”
By this time, the relationship between the funder and the project manager looked irreparable. Zuks rescued it in the form of the custom- made bath and shower just for her hero. “When you have been riding this life with someone you know so well, you tend to know their lifelong dreams and things that make them gaga, so I added this bathroom just for him and he loves it.”
Dr Ramasia’s lifelong exclusive furniture collection could also finally take its well-deserved space in the house. “He collected all these nice things from all over the world during
his travels, and thankfully, because of his eye for quality and classic textures, they have integrated beautifully with modern pieces,” says Zuks.
The synergy in the entire house is a reflection of a harmonious marriage. The successful couple has been together for 40 years and married for 29. “I was 18 and in Matric, and he was doing second year at a medical school when we first met. It was at a bus stop in Vosloorus. I was coming from town and had a few bags of groceries. Bobby was with a friend and they offered to help me carry the bags home, and the rest is history,” she recalls with a giggle. It’s a history that has produced three children and two grandchildren. “We are always laughing in this house. We sometimes forget to even switch on the TV because we are forever poking fun at one another, not to make light of difficulties, but to see the flip side of things,” she says.
“Bobby contracted Covid-19 in December 2020, and although the situation was bad, I found it comical that a fitness bunny like him had been reduced to using a walking aid like an old man,” she recalls. “But inside, I was worried sick, thinking what would happen if he succumbed to the disease. I just couldn’t take away his hope by wearing my worry on the sleeve like that.” However, behind his back, she called his friends to visit him after his recovery.
Zuks’ career kicked off as a flight attendant for South African Airways (SAA). With every pregnancy, she was ‘grounded’, as expectant cabin crew members are not allowed to fly. It was during her working times on the ground that she immersed herself with the business side of operations. She graduated from flight attendant to senior flight attendant, and then became an on-board leader, before becoming a purser, who is the middle person between flight crew, airline company and pilots. She soon became flight crew manager, and later flight crew roster manager, before becoming head of operational control centre, where she dealt with flight scheduling, catering, special passengers, craft maintenance, etc. This is the knowledge that qualified her to become acting CEO of the airline shortly before it went under business rescue. “I’m still amazed that I came into SAA as a flight attendant and left as CEO.”
Neo attributes this gradual growth to her friend’s patience. “With Zuks, you get exactly what you see. She is a good student and does not cut corners. So when she learns something, she doesn’t move to the next until she understands the foundation of what comes next. Even in her personal life, she is a person who strives to understand people before casting judgement on them,” Neo adds. Amazingly, Zukisa has been able to keep her glow and calm in every situation that arises. At 58, her face is still soft and expressive, her figure enviable, and her smile and laughter are contagious. This must have been the picture that classic writer Ernest Hemingway had in mind when he said: “Courage is grace under pressure.” ■